SAN JOSE — The Earthquakes care only about ending a six-game winless streak Friday night when playing host to the Colorado Rapids in a matchup of the Western Conference bottom dwellers.

But San Jose (7-10-5, 26 points) also needs to peek ahead to its tough stretch in a late-season attempt to revive Major League Soccer playoff hopes.

The Quakes have three games in eight days, traveling to Sporting Kansas City on Wednesday and to Eastern Conference-leader D.C. United a week from Saturday.

If they can”t snap out of it immediately the team probably will miss the playoffs for the third consecutive year.

Talk about buzzkill in the season debut of Avaya Stadium.

“The guys are still in good spirits,” coach Dominic Kinnear said. “The guys are just downright disappointed. You can”t escape the fact that it is difficult.”

San Jose hinges its hopes on a favorable end-of-year schedule with eight of the final 12 games at Avaya. It is 3-2-2 in the 18,000-seat stadium, and has shut out four of its last five opponents there.

But the Quakes might need to finish no worse than 7-2-3 to qualify for the MLS Cup playoffs in the tight Western Conference.

That”s tough to imagine for a team that has dropped five of its past six games.

“Having games at home — knowing you have the opportunity to do it is great, but doing it is something separate,” forward Quincy Amarikwa said. “But the guys are tuned into that and are prepared to buckle down and get the three points.”

Amarikwa, 27, has been in the spotlight after scoring four goals in five league games since joining the Quakes in a trade with Chicago this summer.

So far, the former UC Davis star also has given San Jose a strong presence in front of the goal that could eventually create more chances for leading scorer Chris Wondolowski and playmaker Matias Perez Garcia.

“He doesn”t play small,” Kinnear said of Amarikwa. “He holds the ball up well against tough opponents. He takes a beating out there.”

The 5-foot-9 Amarikwa doesn”t look like the typical target forward.

“It”s usually a 6-foot-3 guy who is not too mobile,” said Amarikwa, who also is fast enough to challenge defenders while facing the goal.

But the forward enjoys the role because “I like to fight and hold the ball up,” he said.

Amarikwa is expected to team with Perez Garcia, who with defender Clarence Goodson is expected to play against the Rapids (5-8-9, 24 points) after missing the last game with leg injuries.

Kinnear also held out hope that newly acquired midfielder Anibal Godoy would arrive Friday and perhaps play. The coach said the Panamanian international had not completed the necessary paperwork by Thursday.

Former Stanford star JJ Koval is expected to start as a central midfielder with rookie Fatai Alashe suspended because of an ejection last weekend.

Koval hopes to be the player who slows down attackers, keeps possession and ignites quality scoring chances.

Goodson just wants the Quakes to eliminate mental defensive lapses that have resulted in easy goals.

“We”ve given up some bad goals,” he said. “Those things happen, but it seems to be happening a little bit too much recently.”

The Earthquakes find themselves in a hole where they can”t afford any more mistakes.

Colorado has not won in San Jose since 2010 but the teams have tied in their past four meetings. A draw Friday night at home won”t do it for the Quakes.

“The only thing that makes you feel better is winning games,” Kinnear said.